


Something between them

by thedi_WRECK_tor



Series: Wye Oneshots [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Fluff, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Wye, i hope i tagged right, my first fanfic on here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 16:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5134772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedi_WRECK_tor/pseuds/thedi_WRECK_tor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Evie knew there was something between her brother and the thief, long before they did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something between them

**Author's Note:**

> okay so i’m nervous to post this because bleegh I’m an anxious self conscious writer blegh whatever and I probably tagged this wrong and ugh I'm still frustrated with it but I hope you enjoy the nine-page long self-indulgent nonsense I’m gonna dump on you now. All aboard the #wye train! special thanks to gayspaceelf for beta'ing!

 

It was hard to tell who it started with, or even when.

  
It might have started that day Jacob abducted him from the middle of a police convoy, and took him on a race at breakneck speeds through London's crowded streets to relative safety before finally pulling the carriage over and releasing Ned from his chains. Ned had been miffed about owing the assassin a debt (and the rough ride the mug had put him through), but he'd come through with that train in a spectacular fashion.

  
And afterwards, delighted in bringing up the whole Attaway debacle to Jacob afterwards whenever he felt the assassin was being too cocky.

  
It might have started that day she and Jacob had gone to meet the bespectacled man in the station to talk about the city's 'finest transit systems'; when Ned had told them that anything they found during their illicit acquisitions that sparkled was theirs, and Jacob had replied with a crooked grin and a wink that he loved a bit of sparkle.

  
And followed and spied upon the man for days afterwards. All in the name of determining his trustworthiness, of course.

  
Or it might even have started the day Ned Wynert had first swaggered onto their newly acquired train, charming Miss MacBean on his way. There one moment and gone the next with that odd little dance in his step and a toothy grin spared to both the siblings. True, Jacob had immediately began to harp and snarl about getting back out onto the streets to spill some blood, but he'd been pacified by the board Henry had set up.

  
And hours later, Evie found him playing with the card their odd little visitor had left; a strange, slightly baffled expression on his face that Evie hadn't seen since they were teenagers.

  
Whenever it had started, and whomever started it, this thing between them grew stronger with each passing day. It became matter of course for Jacob and Ned to engage in at least two back-and-forths a day, minimum, and sometimes more than a dozen if they were in a confined space together for a decent stretch of time. And, of course, Evie was brushed off to watch from the sidelines with an exasperated amusement as she waited for them to acknowledge her again. In the beginning, it had been a bothersome spectacle, one she'd thought she'd lose patience with quickly.

  
She was always stopped from interrupting them, however, by the look in her brother's eyes. That honest, gleeful twinkle they took on whenever Ned ribbed him, whenever Ned made some scathingly witty remark that might have insulted anyone else, whenever Ned made some off-the-cuff comment that couldn't be taken as anything other than blatant flirtation, daring Jacob to retort. She was stopped by the little humming noise Ned would make whenever Jacob winked at him, whenever Jacob bumped his shoulder, whenever Jacob made some jest at his height, or whenever Jacob finally stumped him with a comeback and flashed that wide, crooked grin.

  
When they sat together during their evening meal, and Jacob would steer their conversation to some interaction he'd had with Ned earlier that day, Evie didn't shush him or drag him back on track. She let him relay the story, often with bits of food in his mouth as his arms gesticulated wildly to add emphasis to his words. It was easier to just let him run it through than trying to wrangle his attention back herself. When the topic fell to Ned, Jacob seemed determined to keep it there.

  
Whenever Ned showed up to the train, eyes roving through the car they were in, searching for Jacob with some excuse about needing to talk about a new shipping manifest, Evie didn't remark on the fact that they'd done so the day prior. For all she knew, Ned really did have a job for Jacob. She didn't even remark that  _she_ would, of course, be happy to take the job, because she knew it would be pointless. Instead, she politely pointed him in Jacob's direction or, if her brother was gone, promised to relay the message when he returned.

  
When they were perched on a rooftop late at night, in the middle of a stakeout when they really should have been silent and entirely focused on their watch (and God only knew how Father would berate them for slacking in that regard, were he still alive), she split her focus between watching their target or mark or whatever it was they were staking out, and her brother's whispered ponderings about the jewel thief, and no Jacob, I really don't know why he won't give you a solid answer about going out for drinks, and I don't think it would be wise for me to ask him about it.

  
When they were taking stock of a newly purloined load of cargo, ticking off supplies and divvying them up for distribution and relocation, she endured the frequent awkward silences between the unloading and loading of wagons, waiting patiently for Ned to speak his mind and sorry Ned, Jacob was busy pursuing a lead on another Templar agent, he sends his regards yes he is a nuisance, no I'm sure he wasn't following you around town yesterday that would be entirely inappropriate.

  
Now, instead of getting between them when the began to bicker, Evie would only sigh and take a seat, or turn to engage Henry in conversation if he was present. This happened far too often, in her opinion, but it did no good trying to stop them—once they'd beaten one argument to death it seemed natural for them to pick up on another.

  
And, though it actually caused her physical pain to witness it, she stifled her annoyance and endured the interrupted discussions and meetings whenever Jacob thought to blurt out what he thought was a clever pick-up line 'jokingly' aimed at Ned, and Ned's inevitable tirades about Jacob's childish antics disrupting their important work. She even (very reluctantly, mind you) suggested a few to her brother whenever he caught her late at night, sleepless with thoughts about the other criminal.

  
She patiently tolerated every annoying aspect of their interactions (which made up a far more significant percentage of their relationship than the non-annoying ones) because when she watched her brother watch Ned, she could see a joy in him she hadn't seen since they were very young.

  
..........

 

“Oooh look at this.” Her brother, voice dripping with sarcasm, drawled. “What a lovely piece. I do think it would look lovely on the wall in the boudoir. What do you think, dear sister?”

  
Evie turned with minimal eye-rolling to see her brother holding a gaudy fabric fan close to his face, fluttering his eye lashes and twitching the fan in what she thought he might think was a coy manner. She rolled her eyes at his antics. “Must you be such an insufferable child at all times of the day, dear brother?”

  
He snapped the fan closed and fell into step beside her as she made her way back out onto the street. “I suppose not,” he returned, stuffing his hands (and the small cloth dolly he'd pinched as a gift to Clara—he could have purchased it but where would the fun be in that?) into his pockets. “But then that would leave you with no one to be annoyed by, Evie. And wouldn't that be a shame.”

  
Evie snorted, sliding an amused look his way. “A damn shame. An utter, devastating shame. What would I do with all that spare silence and peace?”

  
“Go mad, of course.” Evie chuckled and led him towards another booth, perusing the contents. This one dealt in strange brass pieces. They looked like they were supposed to be art, but they weren't any kind of art Jacob had seen before. He picked a piece up and turned it over in his hands, examining it with a crinkled nose. “What are we doing here, anyway?”

  
“No one said you had to come along.”

  
“Ouch, I'm wounded, Evie. Do you no longer enjoy my company?”

  
“Not a bit.”

  
He dropped the piece carelessly back onto the cloth, ignoring the booth owner's angry shout as he clasped both hands to his heart and made a distressed sound. “Ah, my feelings. They've been brutalized. Everyone please, look away, I think I'm going to cry.” It caused a bout of quiet, breathy laughter in his sister, which had been the goal, and when she swatted at him affectionately on the shoulder he slung an arm across hers and steered her away from the stall and its angry keeper. “But really, what are we doing here?”

  
Evie felt color rise in her cheeks as she elbowed her brother. “It's nothing, just... I thought to get a present for Mr. Green. He's been e-” she had to raise her voice slightly to be heard over her brother's sudden, loud, drawn-out groan. “-ever so kind to us since coming to London, and an invaluable help in pursuing the shroud. I thought I might... give him a token of my personal appreciation is all.” Jacob replied with another groan, this one far more dramatic with his arm flung over his eyes and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. She elbowed him much harder this time, causing him to grunt and wrap both arms around his ribs in defense. “You don't have to stay.”

  
Jacob chuckled and replaced his arm around her shoulders. “Oh whatever. So what are you gonna get him?” He gave her shoulders a shake and bumped his hip against her own, swaying back and forth as they walked and generally trying to be as obnoxious as possible.

  
She chuckled. After all their arguing over the last weeks, this was rather nice. This simple interaction they'd been enjoying the last couple days. They seemed to have finally reached a peace—for now, at least. Keeping with the spirit of peace, she wound her arm companionably around his waist. “I don't know. Maybe nothing here. I'll figure something out, eventually.”

  
Jacob sighed, eyes roving the market as if something would leap up from one of the stalls shouting 'over here over here, Mr. Green would like me and I'm waiting over here!' “Well, now that I know what we're searching for, I'm sure we'll find something to catch his fancy soon enough.”

  
“Implying I wouldn't be able to find it on my own.”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Implying I have no taste.”

  
“Again, yes.”

  
Evie laughed. “You're impossible.”

  
“Thank you.”

  
She shook her head, gazing around them when something did catch her eye. Smiling to herself she paused, tightening her grip on her brother's waist to make him stop as well. “Speaking of fancies being caught, I think I spy something that could catch yours.” At his blank look, she nodded her head in the direction she'd been looking.

  
In that direction, Jacob's eyes landed on the unmistakable form of Ned Wynert leaning over to examine something in yet another stall.

  
She watched with no small amount of fascination as Jacob's entire being softened, starting with his eyes. He made a sound in the back of his throat and pulled self-consciously on his ear. When her arm tightened around him again, Jacob looked sideways at his sister to find her smiling smugly at him. Embarrassed, but grinning hugely, he released his grip of her shoulders and gave her a shove. “Shut up, Evie.”

  
The smug smile remained in place as he jogged away from her through the crowd to snatch the hat off Ned's head, and it only grew wider when the shorter man's irritated shouting reached her over the bustle of the market crowd.

  
..........

“ _You piss-brained, pie-faced, gutter-soaked idiots!”_

  
Jacob let out a low whistle, and Evie silently agreed with the sentiment. They entered the warehouse side-by-side, gazing around at the destruction. A few Rooks were hanging around the mouth of the building, and a few more were roaming around the interior. For once, it wasn't their comrades that had been involved in a scuffle, and this particular branch of Ned's business had nothing to do with them, but they'd been in the neighborhood when one of the Young Rooks had come up to them to report the news that Wynert Enterprises had been struck by Blighters less than an hour previous. Concerned for their business partner, they'd come to investigate.

  
And by the sounds of it, Ned was giving a thorough tongue lashing to his hired muscle in his office.

  
They headed in that direction, leaning against the wall outside to listen to the ever more colorful and creative insults that were shouted from within. It wasn't technically eavesdropping, since Ned wasn't bothering to keep his voice down in the slightest.

  
One particularly vile remark on the bespectacled man's part was followed by the shattering of thrown glass breaking against a wall, along with an order to  _'get the fuck out and don't ever show your faces in one of my businesses again you sheep-shit fuckers'_. Jacob had to stifle a roar of laughter at that, shoving his knuckles between his teeth as tears rolled from his eyes in mirth. The door slammed open an instant later and there was some scuffle for everyone within to escape the small man's fury.

  
“Ned you continue to impress with your unique handle of the English language.”

  
Ned scoffed, kicking at his desk ill-temperadely as the twins slid into the room and shut the door behind them. “Those fucking idiots let an entire patrol of those red-coat wearing  _pricks_ into my factory and after doing considerable sabotage, they made off with four, count them-” He thrust his hand towards the twins, holding four fingers up to emphasize his point. “-four wagons full of my most valuable merchandise, a  _great_  portion of which was slated for delivery to a client who is, shall we say, not the most  _understanding_  of cold-blooded criminals. And that's not to mention all the paperwork they made off with. Ledgers, manifests, future order forms. It's going to take me months to sort all this out, to fix the damage I can, and my reputation, god.” He slapped his hands to his cheeks, staring with horrified fascination at the wall as he clawed at the high, sharp curves beneath his eyes. “Do you know what this will do to my good standing in the underground? A blow like this is might take years to recover from.”

  
Evie clucked her tongue in sympathy. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

  
Jacob chuckled, hauling himself up to sit on Ned's desk, cheeky grin in place as Ned scowled at them both. “Nah, that'd put him in our debt, wouldn't it?” He wagged his brows at Ned, drawing a primal growl out of the man. “He makes it his business to ensure others are indebted to  _him_ , not the other way around, right Ned-y boy?”

  
“How do you get through the day without striking him repeatedly?” Ned shot at Evie, who shrugged and shook her head.

  
“I'm used to it. You could always try meditating.”

  
“Hm.” Ned crossed his arms and blew out a breath, doing a rather impressive impression of an irritated horse. “As much as I  _hate_  asking for a favor when I'm not one-up on someone, I  _do_  need all that cargo and paperwork back if I'm to save face, and that contract. Do you two think you can get it all back without drawing too much attention?”

  
Jacob grinned and winked at Ned. Evie only smiled.  
  


..........  
  


“Excellent, excellent.” Ned rounded the last of the carts as he leafed through a thick sheaf of papers, his eyes glittering and his grin threatening to crack his face in two. “Everything's here, you got it all. And much quicker than I could have hoped.”

  
It had been nothing, really. Jacob had almost been bored during the infiltration and retrieval. The Blighters that had pulled the heist off where shockingly stupid, but neither he nor his sister would mention that to Ned. No need to let him know just how pathetic the men he'd hired were.

  
They were alone in the warehouse, well after midnight now. Evie leaned against one cart while Jacob perched atop one of the crates stacked in the back.

  
Ned hopped from foot to foot and shook his handful of papers in their direction. “Look at this, face saved, contracts saved, and I didn't even hear a single alarm raised or see any cloud of smoke. This is fantastic,  _fantastic_! Oh, am I ever grateful you Fryes came to our fair city.” He kissed the papers in his hands and let out a gleeful laugh, prompting one from the twins as well.

  
“Glad we could be of service, Mr. Wynert.” Evie chuckled.

  
“Yes, well.” Sighing, Ned set the papers aside on a work bench and fisted his hands onto his hips, looking from Evie to Jacob and back again. He smiled at them both and bobbed his head from side to side. “Well?”

  
Evie shrugged. “Well?”

  
Ned sighed dramatically and spread his arms. “Well, what is it? I'm in your debt, and a damn deep one this time. How can I be of service to the infamous Frye twins?” He wiggled his fingers, looking from one twin to the other expectantly. “Well? Need... another train? A skiff? A crate full of imported bunny rabbits? What?”

  
Evie shook her head and shrugged. “Nothing comes to mind.” Above her, Jacob was sniggering, heels banging against the crate.

  
Ned groaned. “Oh, come on. I hate leaving debts unpaid can't we just square this away now?”

  
“I'm sorry Ned, I can't think of anything at the moment. Jacob?”

  
Perhaps that had been an unwise decision. She could see good intentions withering away in the crooked smile her brother fixed on Ned as he slid off the crate and dropped to the ground in a puff of dust. “Well... there is always one way you can pay us back.”

  
Ned's eyes narrowed slightly, but his brilliant smile remained in place as he motioned for Jacob to continue. “By all means.”

  
Jacob took a few steps closer before crossing his arms and cocking his head. “Go out for a drink with me.”

  
Ned's expression flickered briefly to shock before it seemed to shutter into annoyed anger. “Seriously Frye? Do you ever turn off or...?”

  
Jacob's smiled dimmed and he uncrossed his arms to shove them into his pockets, but he didn't back down. “What're drinks to hauling all this shit back here for you? Just a couple of pints and a friendly chat.” His smile gained a hopeful edge as he shrugged. “That's all I'm asking.”

  
Ned shook his head in disbelief. “You're absolutely incorrigible.”

  
Jacob shrugged. “I don't know. If it was an absolute, I'd have finally asked you for a kiss instead of drinks.” Silence hung around the trio for a long, heavy moment. Evie watched them both, wide-eyed and silent, half expecting Ned to crack his knuckles against her brother's cheek for the suggestion, but he only stared up at the assassin with utter shock. Jacob, for his part, seemed equally stunned by his words. He shook himself after a moment, looking chastised. “I-”

  
Ned's shock melted into something unreadable as he stepped up to the taller man, fisted his hands in the lapels of his coat, and jerked him down to his level to crash their mouths together.

  
Evie's mouth popped open in shock, and she saw her brother go rigid, arms shooting up and out to the sides, first to keep his balance as he was yanked down, now hanging there because he apparently had no idea what to do with them. Ned, for his part, tilted his head, nose bumping against Jacob's as his tongue swept over the assassin's bottom lip, followed closely by teeth before Jacob's lips finally parted. Ned's mouth moved against his for a moment more before he jerked away, giving Jacob a light shove.

  
He wiped a thumb against the corners of his lips, staring almost... defiantly between the twins, as if expecting them to say something. “We square?”

  
Jacob, arms still in the air and expression thoroughly dazed, nodded dumbly.

  
Ned nodded, straightening his jacket and jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “Then get the fuck out, I have work to do.”

  
..........

  
“I love it, Miss Evie. Truly. It's a lovely gift, I cannot express the extent of my gratitude.”

  
Evie smiled, running her hand over the cover of the book he held in his hands, pleased that she'd made a good choice. “I'm glad. I worried that you'd read it before, or even had a copy already in your collection.”

  
Henry shook his head, his fingers dancing over the cover to brush against hers, causing both their cheeks to heat. “I do now. Thank you, again.”

  
Evie left him to his reading, smiling widely to herself as she left the curio shop to head back to the train, reveling at the memory of his hand touching hers. She held the hand in front of her, curling the fingers and wondering how delightful it would be to... to hold his hand. To hold it and walk down the street by his side...

  
Her musings were only interrupted by the shrill blat of the train hideout's horn. She jogged across the tracks and caught the rail by the door with a running leap. She pulled it open and slid inside, rolling her shoulders as she walked down the aisle of the car while the train lumbered on. Evie was just thinking that she might steal an hour to do some of her own reading and unwind in the bedroom when a thump in the next car caught her attention. Immediately she was on alert. Her highly trained senses picked up what sounded like a struggle, and she leaped across the empty space between the cars, ready to burst into the bedroom and take out the intruders.

  
However, what she saw in the clear pane of the door had her jerking back out of view, a shocked snort of laughter escaping her. When she peaked back in, she realized she wasn't imagining things.

  
Ned Wynert had her brother stripped to the waist and pinned against a wall, his hands tangling in Jacob's hair as his in turn gripped possessively at the thief's hips, yanking the slim man against him. They might have been devouring each other, for all the grace and finesse they put into the kiss. Evie bit her lip to keep silent as they broke apart for air, panting hard and apparently giggling like children if their shaking shoulders and stupid grins were any indication. As she watched, Jacob bent, his hands sliding down roughly over Ned's ass to hook behind his thighs and hitch him into the air. Ned wrapped his legs tight around Jacob, and then they were lip-locked again, pulling at each other as Jacob whirled them around to drop Ned onto the mattress and climb over him.

  
Evie sighed and moved away from the window, leaping back across the gap into the next car.

  
She grabbed one of Mis MacBean's penny-dreadfuls off the desk and flopped onto the couch, grinning from ear to ear.

  
It was about damn time.

  
  


 


End file.
